MN Boys’ Hockey Hub

With late power play, Eden Prairie ties Wayzata

Power-play goal from Kyle Rau knots game up for good

With his team trailing by a goal and his top line needing a breather, Eden Prairie coach Lee Smith called timeout before his Eagles began a 5-on-3 power play against Wayzata.

Down 3-2 with less than five minutes remaining in Saturday's game at the Plymouth Ice Center, the No. 2 Eagles were in danger of dropping their second game in three days.

But talk on the Eden Prairie bench during the timeout focused on execution rather than emotion.

"We knew we had about a minute of 5-on-3 and a minute of 5-on-4, so we weren't desperate," Eden Prairie forward Kyle Rau said. "And we kept throwing pucks on net, so I thought one would go in sooner or later."

Rau's ensuing power-play goal tied the game 3-3. The score didn't change through regulation and an eight-minute overtime period, leaving all involved pleased with their effort but disappointed in the result.

"I was proud to see our comeback in the third period," Wayzata coach Carl Davis said. "But is was unfortunate the way we put ourselves into a hole with the 5-on-3."

Trailing 2-1 after two periods, No. 6 Wayzata (13-3-1) took the lead on goals from Kenzie Vold and Mario Lucia. But rather than build on their momentum, the Trojans found themselves down two skaters against Eden Prairie (10-4-1) a little more than one minute later.

Rau said his Eagles teammates, who suffered an upset loss to Holy Angels on Thursday night, "wanted to get our pride back" against Wayzata.

Rau, a Gophers recruit, drew the ire of his Lake Conference rivals by calling teammates over to celebrate his goal in front of Wayzata's bench.

"I did not know that was a big deal," Rau said.

Davis said Moorhead did the same thing to his team last week, adding he was "not real happy with that. The referees saw it but didn't feel it was a penalty."